Member States shall ensure that the medium-term budgetary objective (MTO) is achieved and maintained throughout the economic cycle, with a lower limit of a structural deficit of 0.5% of GDP for euro area Member States and Member States participating in ERM II, unless they have achieved a debt level significantly below 60% of GDP and risks to the long-term sustainability of public finances are low, in which case the lower limit is a structural deficit of 1.0% of GDP.